The City Council of Sant Vicenç dels Horts has presented its experience in digital portals of citizen participation and electronic voting in the Electronic Identity Forum of Estonia (EID). The EID Forum is a platform for the exchange and debate on the benefits and challenges of using new technologies in public administrations, companies and training centers. Since 2009, the Forum has received support and funding from the European Union.
The Councilor for Citizen Participation, Arnau Mata, took part in the debate “Empowerment of citizenship” where he transferred the experience of participatory budgets to the neighborhoods of La Vinyala-Poble Nou and Can Ros-El Serral of Sant Vicenç dels Horts. Mata highlighted the importance of telematic voting and the portal “Decidim Sant Vicenç”, as they allowed the range of options to be expanded so that everyone could vote without losing security by using the AOC identity hub (VALID) to facilitate easy and secure digital identification of citizens.
With regard to the digital conversion and the elimination of paper processing, the Councilor for Citizen Participation explained that the City Council's internal processes have been 100% digitized, thus eliminating paper. Regarding citizenship, Mata commented that work is being done to expand online processing with the construction of a new municipal website. However, he stressed that, with the e-Notum service, it has been possible to save on sending certified letters to the public, who can now receive digitally any administrative notification, such as resolutions, decrees, traffic penalties. , calls for collegiate bodies, among others. This service has already allowed the Vincentian City Council to save more than 32.000 euros so far this year.
In the discussion group of the EID Forum where the City Council of Sant Vicenç dels Horts participated yesterday, experiences could be shared with administrations from France, Portugal and Estonia. Of the shared experiences, the Vincentian councilor highlighted, in statements to Ràdio Sant Vicenç, the home visits provided by some of the administrations participating in the forum to ensure the vote of people with reduced mobility, a service that Mata considered studying for in Sant Vicenç dels Horts.
